VCHpresents Chamber: Figaro in a Pocket

FIGARO IN A POCKET 3 & 4 Feb 2024 Victoria Concert Hall

3 & 4 FEBRUARY 2024 FIGARO IN A POCKET PROGRAMME MOZART The Marriage of Figaro ACT 1 & 2

45 mins

Intermission

20 mins

ACT 3 & 4

45 mins

CAST Benjamin Molonfalean Damian Whiteley Sun Ting Justyna Bluj Wong Yang Kai1 Giselle Lim2 Jasmine Towndrow2 Gaston Liew2

Figaro Bartolo Susanna Countess Count Cherubino Marcellina Don Basilio/Don Curzio

SINGAPORE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA Wang Xiaoming Chan Yoong-Han Zhao Tian Gu Bing Jie Dandan Wang Ng Pei-Sian Jamshid Saydikarimov Yang Zheng Yi Karen Yeo Roberto Alvarez Pan Yun Li Xin Marcelo Padilla Austin Larson Christian Schiøler 1 2

Guest Concertmaster violin violin viola viola cello cello double bass double bass flute oboe clarinet bassoon horn timpani

SSO Choral Associate Singapore Symphony Youth Choir member

CONCERT DURATION: approximately 1 hour and 50 mins (including 20 mins intermission)

BENJAMIN MOLONFALEAN Figaro

Bass-baritone Benjamin Molonfalean was born in Romania. Upon graduation from high school, he was offered a place at the Royal Danish Academy of Music where he completed his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees. His notable performances at the Academy include Forester in Janáček’s The Cunning Little Vixen and Figaro in Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro.

Benjamin has participated in masterclasses by Constance Fee and Gábor Bretz, and has been under the tutelage of David Jones and Sherman Lowe. In 2017, he made his debut at the Århus Sommeropera for the World Premiere of Niels Marthinsen’s opera, Darwin.

In 2018, Benjamin performed the bass part in Rossini’s Petite messe solennelle at Denmark’s Maribo Cathedral. He then took on the title role in Donizetti’s Don Pasquale with Opera Prima Wien (2019). From 2020 to 2021, Benjamin was a member of the Malmö Opera Academy.

Benjamin joined the Zurich Opera House’s International Opera Studio for their 2021/22 season.

Noteworthy productions include Tosca (Un Carceriere), Dialogues of the Carmelites (Officer), Rigoletto (Usciere di Corte), Eliogabalo (Tiferne), and Serse (Ariodate). In that time, Benjamin was under the guidance of esteemed voice teachers, coaches, and stage directors such as Adrian Kelly, Tom Barthel, Eytan Pessen, Hedwig Fassbender, Michelle Wegwart, Andreas Homoki, Jan Essinger and Brigitte Fassbaender.

In 2022, Benjamin took on the role of Sarastro in Vattnäs Konsertlada’s production of Mozart’s The Magic Flute. Looking ahead to the 2023/24 season, he is thrilled to announce his future engagements which include the role of Flemish Deputies in Verdi’s Don Carlos at Grand Théâtre de Genève and Urilas in Reinhard Keiser’s Ulysses at Theater Orchester Biel Solothurn.

DAMIAN WHITELEY Bartolo

Having studied piano and violin from an early age, Australian bass Damian Whiteley earned his degree in Music & Languages from the University of Sydney, and proceeded to study privately with Yvonne Minton and the Royal Northern College of Music before being accepted into the young artist programme at Opernhaus Zürich.

A member of the European Academy of Music, Damian performed in Peter Brook’s production of Don Giovanni, conducted by Claudio Abbado and Daniel Harding at the Festival d’Aixen-Provence, and the subsequent world tour. He performs regularly with Les Arts Florissants, including performances with the ensemble at Teatro Real Madrid and the Opéra Comique in Paris. Back home, Damian has appeared with Sydney’s Pinchgut Opera as Carone/Plutone in Monteverdi’s Orfeo, the title role in Salieri’s Falstaff, among others.

Passionate about education, Damian has worked with Opernhaus Zürich as repetiteur, and regularly as coach to internationally renowned singers including Sen Guo, Kenneth Tarver and Diana Damrau.

Recent performance highlights include Bartolo in Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro (Lyric Opera Dublin), Seneca in L’incoronazione di Poppea (Lyric Opera Melbourne), World Premiere of Smotow’s Dan No Ura and Sarastro in The Magic Flute (Opera Siam). Damian has recorded a solo album Bass Instinct with ARIA Award-winning pianist Tamara-Anna Cislowska, and toured New Zealand, Germany, Switzerland & Thailand in mozart & ME – a one-man show by Melvyn Morrow, based on the life of Mozart’s librettist, Lorenzo Da Ponte.

SUN TING Susanna

China-born soprano Sun Ting currently resides in Switzerland. She is a graduate of the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna where she earned a Master’s in Opera and Art Song. Sun has accumulated rich performance experience and numerous honours through participation in international vocal competitions in Vienna, Salzburg and Osaka.

An accomplished artiste, Sun has collaborated with orchestras from China, Germany, Italy, and South Korea, undertaking several noteworthy international tours.

She has performed on prestigious stages in Vienna, Salzburg, Zurich’s Opera House, and China’s National Centre for the Performing Arts. Her performance credits include Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro, Così fan tutte and The Magic Flute, Donizetti’s Don Pasquale, Weber’s Der Freischütz, Verdi’s Requiem, Rossini’s Le comte Ory, and Bizet’s Carmen. Sun has

been invited multiple times to participate in favourite events such as the Salzburg Festival. Throughout her career, she has remained dedicated to expressing emotions through music and conveying the captivating charm of music and the art of voice to audiences.

In 2023, she assumed the role of Executive Director for the Zurich Opera Vocal Masterclass, and is committed to supporting the development of young opera performers.

JUSTYNA BLUJ Countess

Polish-born soprano Justyna Bluj is a graduate of the International Opera Studio in Zürich, Switzerland and of the Opera Academy in the Polish National Opera Warsaw, Poland. She also completed her MA studies in voice at the K. Penderecki Academy of Music in Kraków, Poland.

An avid performer, she has performed alongside Cecilia Bartoli in her Gala Concert (Switzerland), Beethoven’s 23 Songs of Various Nationalities with the Gorzów Philharmonic (Poland), a recital of Szymanowski’s songs at the Blackwater Valley Opera Festival (Ireland), recital of German lieder accompanied by pianist Helmut Deutsch at the Polish National Opera (Poland), and a concert of Moniuszko’s music at the Kraków and Wrocław Opera Houses.

Justyna has performed the roles of Ortlinde in Wagner’s Die Walküre, Annina from Verdi’s La Traviata,

Dama di Lady Macbeth in Verdi’s Macbeth, Erste Dame in Mozart’s The Magic Flute, Miss Huck in Szymanowski’s Lottery for Husbands, Die Vertraute in R. Strauss’s Elektra, and Countess Ceprano in Verdi’s Rigoletto. She has worked with the likes of conductors Kazushi Ono, Gianandrea Noseda, Fabio Luisi and Patrick Fournillier, and directors Mariusz Treliński, Andreas Homok and Floris Visser.

She has participated in The Britten Pears Young Artist Programme, The 21st Century Singer in Aldeburgh Festival, and Voksenåsen Summer Academy. Justyna is honoured to have been supported with scholarships by the Hans and Eugenia Jütting Foundation and Poland’s Ministry of Culture.

WANG XIAOMING

Guest Concertmaster Wang Xiaoming is the First Violinist of Stradivari Quartet, Concertmaster of Philharmonia Zurich, founder of the Swiss Chinese Chamber Orchestra and Image Ambassador for Culture Tourism in Switzerland.

Following a first-prize finish at the MIDO International Violin Competition in 1998, he won the top prize at the Stefanie Hohl Violin Competition and the special award at the International Violin Competition Leopold Mozart in Ausburg.

Wang has performed as a soloist with the Zurich Philharmonia, Poznań and Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestras, Webern and Guiyang Symphony Orchestras, and the China NCPA Orchestra. He has toured as a performer in Asia, USA, Australia, South America and throughout Europe. Wang appears regularly as a soloist and chamber musician at major concert venues around the world including Lincoln Center, New York; Vienna Concert Hall and Vienna Musikverein, Vienna; Wigmore Hall, London; Kioi Hall, Tokyo; China NCPA and Shanghai Symphony Hall, China; Seoul Arts Center, South Korea as well as at the Sydney Opera House, Australia.

Other performance highlights include the Verbier and Lucerne Festivals, Rheingau and Schleswig-holstein Musik Festivals, Kissinger Sommer, Macao International Music Festival, and the May Festival of the NCPA. Wang appears regularly as guest concertmaster with Deutsche Radio Philharmonie, Hamburg Philharmonic, Lucerne, Bern and Singapore Symphony Orchestras, and the China NCPA Orchestra. He has performed alongside conductors Lorin Maazel, Christoph Eschenbach, Zubin Mehta, Bernard Haitink, Daniele Gatti, Gustavo Dudamel, Myung-whun Chung and Valery Gergiev.

Wang has great passion for the development of young talents, and founded the MingClassics Festival and Academy in Switzerland in 2019.

WONG YANG KAI Count

Yang Kai’s introduction to the world of choral music began during his time in secondary school, sparking a profound interest in choral conducting and classical singing. Fuelled by his passion for these disciplines, he earned a BA (Hons) in music with a major in vocal performance from LaSalle College of the Arts. Building on this foundation, he pursued a Masters in Choral Conducting at California State University Los Angeles.

Dedicating himself to the local musical community, Yang Kai has been actively directing youth choirs in schools. As a baritone, he contributes his talents to Singapore’s premier professional choir, the ROS (Resonance of Singapore) Singers, and has recently taken on the role of Choral Associate with the Singapore Symphony Orchestra (SSO).

Yang Kai’s musical endeavours have transcended borders. As a versatile multiinstrumentalist, he takes pleasure in using his skills to contribute to and uplift his community.

GISELLE LIM Cherubino

Giselle, a Year 5 Soprano at the School of the Arts, is passionately dedicated to singing and aspires to pursue it professionally. From 2016 to 2020, she contributed her voice to the Singapore Symphony Children’s Choir, collaborating with soloists like Angel Blue and Mandy Dickson. She has participated in projects with The King’s Singers and the Singapore Symphony Orchestra’s performance of Puccini’s La bohème in 2018.

In 2019 and 2023, Giselle performed at TAD Charity’s Charity Art Exhibition. In 2022, she secured first place in the Junior B category at the 1st Bangkok International Performing Arts Vocal Competition. The following year, she achieved second prize in the Young Concert Artist category at the Apollo International Music & Arts Competition, earning a masterclass with American soprano Julia Bullock. Additionally, she clinched the first prize in her age group at the New Talent Festival.

Giselle is currently a chorister with the Singapore Symphony Youth Choir.

JASMINE TOWNDROW Marcellina

Jasmine Grace Towndrow, a Singapore-based soprano, is gaining recognition in opera and concerts. Currently studying at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA), she recently portrayed Countessa and Susanna in NAFA’s opera scenes programmes. Beyond opera, Jasmine has a rich history as a solo concert singer, participating in various NAFA Concert Series and Opera Weekends. She was a member of the Singapore Symphony Children’s Choir for a decade, winning prizes and performing in international festivals.

An accomplished competition singer, she secured First Prize in the NAFA Vocal Competition (2023). Jasmine also studied abroad at the International Vocal Artists Academy of Payerbach, Austria, under renowned mentors (Vladamir Chernov). Fluent in English, Spanish, and conversational in Mandarin Chinese and German, Jasmine’s passion for music persists through her performances and studies.

GASTON LIEW

Don Basilio/Don Curzio Gaston, 22, is a baritone from the Singapore Symphony Youth Choir. Starting his choral journey in the Singapore Lyric Opera Childrens’ Choir, Gaston gained performance experiences at the Esplanade, Victoria Concert Hall, and The Old Parliament House from a young age. Continuing his passion for singing, he studied under the GCE ‘O’ and ‘A’ Level Music Elective Programme, specialising in vocal performance. Gaston is now studying at the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music (YSTCM) at the National University of Singapore (NUS), as part of the Music, Collaboration and Production (MCP) major to further his musical skills beyond singing.

PROGRAMME NOTES WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART (1756 – 1791) The Marriage of Figaro What was Mozart’s life like in 1786? He had spent the last few years in Vienna, capital of the Holy Roman Empire and centre of culture for the Germanspeaking lands, presenting three or four new piano concerti with himself as soloist in each season. The concerts were popular, and with an annual income of 2,500 florins (roughly 350,000 USD today) the Mozarts moved into an expensive apartment costing 450 florins a year (roughly 60,000 USD today), bought an expensive Anton Walter piano for 900 florins (120,000 USD today), a billiard table for 300 florins (40,000 USD today), sent their son to an expensive boarding school, and kept multiple servants. In short, life was good.

Buoyed by success Mozart returned to opera. Any sensible person would have chosen a safe libretto, but Mozart was determined to make a splash, choosing for the subject of his opera, the 1784 stage comedy La folle journée, ou le Mariage de Figaro (The Mad Day, or the Marriage of Figaro), by French playwright Pierre Beaumarchais, in which two servants succeed in getting married, thwarting and shaming the efforts of their employer to seduce the bride.

The choice raised eyebrows, as it was a frank treatment of class conflict, inherited privilege, and hereditary nobility, and was banned in the Holy Roman Empire. Nevertheless,

Mozart brought the play to Italian poet Lorenzo da Ponte, who turned it into Italian verse and removed almost all the political references. This depoliticized version was approved by Emperor Joseph II and Mozart began composition.

The Marriage of Figaro begins with the Overture, the opening of which features swirling strings, conjuring up the gossiping and whispers of human societies. Genial and light hearted, this set the scene for the opera to be a hit, first on its premiere in Vienna in 1786 and later in Prague.

The action begins in Seville, with Figaro and Susanna in Duettino – Cinque…dieci…venti…, where the soon-to-be-married couple are measuring space in the room they intend to share as a pair. While Figaro is pleased at how close their quarters are to their employer Count Almaviva, Susanna is concerned precisely because of this, revealing in Duettino – Se a caso madam la notte ti chiama that the count been sexually harassing her for some time. Figaro is not pleased, but his role as servant means he can only use subtle tricks to assert his rights, and in Cavatina – Se vuol ballare signor Contino promises to make the count dance to his guitar.

Dr Bartolo, a practicing medical doctor and lawyer, turns up with the elderly Marcellina, from whom Figaro has borrowed a large sum and promised marriage in lieu of collateral if unable to repay. Marcellina intends to sue Figaro to enforce that promise, and Dr Bartolo sings La vendetta, oh la

vendetta! full of blustery legal jargon, representing Marcellina pro bono, before departing. Susanna returns and exchanges sarcastic compliments with Marcellina, who also leaves in a huff.

The adolescent page boy Cherubino, full of raging hormones and checking out every female in sight, has a crush on the countess, has been caught in the act with the gardener’s daughter by the count. Cherubino asks Susanna to intercede with the count for him, but the count arrives and Cherubino hides, not wishing to be caught in another misunderstanding. Thinking himself alone with Susanna, the count offers her money for sex. The music teacher Basilio arrives and the count hides. Unaware of the count, Basilio mentions Cherubino’s crush on the countess, enraging the count who rants and unexpectedly discovers Cherubino has overheard his advances on Susanna. Awkwardness ensues.

Opening Act II, in her boudoir, the countess laments her husband’s constant infidelity in Cavatina – Porgi amor qualche ristoro. Susanna arrives to groom and dress her, and she questions Susanna about her husband. Susanna explains that the count is not trying to seduce her, but merely offered her money for sex but she refused. The countess is not consoled. Figaro enters and informs them he has sent an anonymous letter to the count that the countess will have a romantic rendezvous, with the idea that the count will thus be too distracted to interfere with the wedding. He also suggests the countess dress Cherubino as a girl and lure the count into a compromising situation. Cherubino arrives and sings the song he wrote for the countess – Arietta – Voi che sapete. In Aria – Venite inginocchiatevi, Susanna puts

Cherubino in a dress and teaches him how to behave like a woman. A farcial episode of locked doors and assumptions ensues, leading into the Act II Finale – Esci omai garzon malnato featuring almost the entire main cast: Bartolo, Marcellina and Basilio arrive to put their case to the count, showing the contract. The delighted count declares Figaro must honour his agreement, postponing the wedding to Susanna.

Act III starts with Susanna giving the count a promise of a rendezvous with him in Duettino – Crudel! Perche finora, but the count overhears her talking to Figaro, realizes a trap is ahead, and swears revenge in Aria – Hai gia vinta la causa/Vedrô mentre io sospiro. Marcellina and Bartolo arrive, insisting Figaro marry her. The count Figaro protests he requires his parents’ permission to marry but he cannot find them, having been abducted as a child. Marcellina recognizes a birthmark on Figaro’s arm, and realizes he is the child of her youthful encounter with Bartolo, and reconciliation ensues with the Sestetto – Riconosci in questo amplesso.

In Act IV, the countess and Susanna come up with a scheme in which the countess dictates a love letter for Susanna to send to the count in Duettino – Che soave zeffiretto, in which Susanna promises to meet him that night. Susanna and the countess exchange identities, and the countess meets the count in the garden. Susanna, pretending to be the countess, sings Aria – Giunse alfin il momento/Deh vieni non tardar about how she looks forward to the evening.

Meanwhile, the countess, dressed in her maid’s clothes, meets the count, and hears the first tender word she has offered her in years simply

because he thinks she is someone else. In Finale – Pian pianin le andrò piu presso, Figaro recognizes Susanna in the countess’ clothes, and the count seeing him with the ‘countess’ thinks they are having an affair, exploding in rage and raising the alarm, refuses to forgive Figaro. The real countess reveals herself and the count realising what has happened, is humbled and begs her forgiveness for his philandering ways and double standards, with the requisite happy ending following.

The work premiered 1 May 1786, with Mozart conducting the first two performances, and the work had nine performances in the run. The opening night was such a success that five numbers received encores. Reactions were electric, with Joseph Haydn enjoying it so much that he heard the music in his dreams and even wished to produce it with his own company at his employer’s residence in Hungary.

Emperor Joseph II requested a private performance at the Laxenburg palace

theatre the next month. A run in Prague was so popular that the local populace paid for Mozart to come conduct a performance himself, and this success led to the commissioning of the next Mozart and Da Ponte collaboration, Don Giovanni.

In this day of frank and open discussions about sexual harassment, marital unhappiness, and victims’ fear of confronting superiors in the face of systemic injustice, a story where a man of high standing abuses his privilege to harass women sexually, flips out when encountering pushback, and tries to ruin the lives of victims is particularly relevant. The fact that this story is some 250 years old is food for thought that human nature has not changed much since it was first written, illustrating the French saying plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose (“The more things change, the more they remain the same”).

Programme notes by Edward C. Yong

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